MMQG Throwback Thursday: The Augu-sep-tober Update!

Hello Quilty friends from far and wide - hang on to your hats as tonight's blog post is a whopper.

You may, or may not, have noticed that the MMQG Blog was on a little rest this summer and early fall. Summer, and Fall, can be busy bee times for lots of reasons. We all have them - but we're here tonight to do a proper recap and hoping you'll enjoy it all the more for the anticipation.

August, September and October Meetings:

Meetings can be a little scantily attended in the summer time - and so our August meeting was short, and sweet. We had a great demo from Anja on no-waste flying geese and the many ways you can get many, many HSTs from larger squares - and we love to get as many units as we can from our scraps!

A small but mighty crew

a sampler made from all HSTs!

It also seemed to be the meeting of show and share the clothes you made: 

An adorable Gemma Tank by Andrea B

Jenn TZ made that dress she's wearing! 

And social media Sarah made the dress she was wearing too... #notpictured #photographerproblems

Lots more treasures came to show and share as well - some were top secret and therefore also not pictured... we love seeing those gifts you're giving, before you give them!

Our September meeting was a hoot too! We decided to try something new and watch a webinar from the MQG for our program. Those in attendance really enjoyed the discussion on alternate grid work.

And - the greatest thing: post summer show and share!

Adrienne's been working on this QAYG beauty since retreat - WOW!

Another beautiful finish from Adrienne

Shelley found the CUTEST baby sewing machine! 

The charity quilt tops also started to roll in - Thanks Gail!

Sleepy Fox from Andrea TJ - look for this class at Patch this fall!

A transparency study also from Andrea TJ

This is Linda's travelling quilt - check out her blog for all the juicy details

One of a pair of baby quilts for twins from Jeanette

And another - that whale!

Sarah had a crib sized flimsy to show and share

And Susan finished her Canada 150 quilt!

And when you have 150 scraps... you make many bags. Right? :)

A cute soccer bag from Julie D

And memory pillows.

Karen found these cuties from many moons ago - and we gave advice on how to preserve and display them now

The October meeting program was called "Finishing School" - a cute play on words to share many techniques for finishing your items in a clever way. We learned techniques like how to install an invisible zipper, how to make a hanging sleeve, how to make piping and put it on a project, how to finish off binding with glue, and how make invisible pieced backing. A big thanks to Karen, Crystal, Julia and Adrienne for sharing their skills! How many people hustled home to put in an invisible zipper? 

Show and share was delicious as usual - feast your eyes!

Super cute wallet by Anja

Susan tackled a wallet too!

Andrea's INCREDIBLE RJR Fabrics quilt... see her blog for more info

Cute Placemats from Karen

A Kraken Mini from Jen TZ

R2D2 - in all his 237 piece glory. WOW.

a beautiful finish from Aimee - using v and co ombre!

A completed charity quilt

a beauty from Dena

and another charity quilt.

August, September and October Sew-Ins:

In the summer - we whisk away to an air conditioned sew-in space - a big THANK YOU to Anja for arranging with Atlantic Fabrics for us to use their classroom. August sew in was another small but mighty team, with some cute projects on the go as per usual.

September we had some logistical difficulties, but where there's a will and a generous soul, there's a way! Julia was hosting a little quilt market prep sew-in in the basement of her church, and she graciously extended some space to us to get organized with our charity quilts. A big thanks to everyone who switched plans mid stream and came out to help.

October sew-in was held just last weekend back in our regular location - and it felt like a mid-summer day! As per usual we spent time catching up, planning fabric pillaging voyages, hand quilting, snacking and laughing. Here are a few shots from the August, September and October Sew-Ins for your viewing pleasure.

The summer of baby quilts for Caitlin

HSTs abound

Basking in the AC at AF

Totally focused

There's that ombre beauty again!

an impressive kit

Charlie-dog, what a sweet bandana you have!

Balancing Crystal's layout

A beautiful charity top pieced by Barb

On the string block train

In our happy place - October Sew In

If you made it all the way to the end of this post, you are probably one of our biggest fans! Thanks for checking in - and stay tuned for all that November has to offer.

We have much to look forward to! A quilt as you go stocking workshop, our BIG Birthday Meeting with lots of treats and prizes, and of course - sew in!

Make sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook for live updates. 'Till next time!

MMQG July Recap - Yard Sale/Games Night Meeting, An EPP Workshop and a Sew In! WOAH!

Hello MMQG Fans!

As July is usually time for a little rest and relaxation - here's hoping you enjoy this multi-purpose blog post. Our July meeting was our annual member's de-stash yard sale and games night. Bring your scraps and your neglected notions, your unloved rulers and bits and bobs - one quilters tired-of magazines are another ones treasure we've found! We also played some rounds of Kahoot and of course our favorite game, Left Center Right. The stakes were high, as the winner of LCR took away over 20 new fat quarters! We love fat quarters.

The calm before the frenzy - we set up our stations for the yard sale.

Someone's excellent yard sale haul!

The frenzy - this is what a pack of deal hunters looks like! 

Then - we played a super fun game called Kahoot - played electronically, kind of like trivia in a bar. Fun!

And of course - not to be forgotten, was the show and share portion of the evening. The sunny days and long evenings didn't dissuade any of us from sewing - or showing - our new projects.

Amanda's machine cover - how intricate! a Friedlander lover's dream.

TEENY hexagons!! and some selvedge too. adorable.

Linda's travelling quilt came back to her...

with a custom text print inserted in some of the blocks.
What thoughtful friends, has that Fabric Pig!

This is a really neat piece made with every scrap of a fabric found at Marden's - called Graffiti. The math on this one! 

An installment from Linda's summer of stash - an eye spy quilt.

A custom cutie from Jeanette - with an adorable story.

Classic Jeanette - woodland squares looked perfect in a stylized nursery shoot we saw featuring this quilt.

A baby quilt from Linda that was mistakenly given a filthy hashtag... You'll have to ask her about this one!

A gorgeous top from Ade and Barb - our first peek at a charity top

Caitlin lovingly hand quilted this Kona Panel and it followed her everywhere

An oldie but a goodie from Linda - this WIP is now complete after emerging from the pile for HOW many years? :)

Jennifer's low volume "Quivet" top titled: Can you hear me now? Laughs ensued.

Sarah's rendition of Andrea's new Sleepy Fox FPP Patten

Dominique was on the home stretch with this big beauty for her mother. Big thanks to Karen for her help!
The next stage for this involved being trekked on vacation in a hockey bag to be bound.

A night sky nautical delight from Jeanette for her pillow project.

THE CUTEST pineapple backpack from Julie D.

Linda is sewing up everything in sight - one side of the eye spy.

Valerie made quilted tote bags for her cousins, for a family reunion. Lucky cousins!

Our first peek at a finished charity quilt - thanks Joanne!

Houses from Linda

And a pillow from Dominique. This will make a long term care resident really happy!

Then, we had a lovely cozy EPP Workshop at the Central Library in Halifax. It was a drizzly evening, perfect for inside sewing. Led by our fabulous VP Jennifer, we had just a few people - totally enough to enjoy some one on one teaching time and asking all the questions, learning about tried and true resources for shapes of all kinds. We also got to sharing what various and sundry bits and bobs made up our EPP kits, if we already had one - certainly we all came away learning something new!

A cute perspective poached from Jennifer's Instagram

Stitching and gluing, that's how we get down on a Monday night!

You can see Jen's adorable kit on the table opposite Amanda and Caitlin - and she made it herself!

Finally - we had a little Sew In at our summer location. Another small but mighty crew. Thank you Anja for making arrangements for us to get an air conditioned space. Totally worth it on the hot and muggy Saturday it was.

Brenda had many rows "On the Go" - just sweet. Loving the Makery Row again this year! 

Anja put the final stitches in her Postcards from Sweden top.
Stunning. This is a gem on many quilty bucket lists.

As it was Pride Parade day in Halifax, it was also fitting that some rainbow selvedges arrived.
Thanks for sharing your progress, Jen. Those who like selvedges, like them a lot.

A small but mighty sew in crew.

Thanks for stopping by, here's hoping you enjoyed this July recap - stay tuned for a similar one recapping our Amazing August!

MMQG June 2017 MIDNIGHT MADNESS Sew In!

On a misty and damp Saturday in June (the 24th to be precise) - we attempted what hadn't been tried before in our Guild... a mini-retreat of sorts - a midnight madness sew-in*!

* A midnight madness sew-in: Much like a regular sew in, only with HUGE attendance, many many generous donations of snacks, rollicking rounds of Left Centre Right, a coffee maker, a pizza party, some swimming... so - really like the most epic of sew-ins.

It may have been the perfect day to hold this sew in, as it was quite rainy. No one in attendance mentioned they'd rather be home in the yard. We scheduled our fun from 10 am till midnight! Although, I estimate the last stitch was sewn around 11:15 and we were cleaned up and gone by 11:40. We quilters are efficient and precise, even with our scheduled fun.

A very special thanks goes out to Pat - who surprised us mid afternoon with a Build Your Own Banana Split Ice Cream Bar!

How CUTE is this?!?! Thank you Pat - we love you!

If you follow the Guild on other social media platforms - you'll find a TONNE of pictures from the day if you search for the hashtag #midnightmadnesssewin and so for now, I'll leave you with a few I managed to capture in between working on a special secret sewing project, and snacking like it was my job. The food! Behold...

These babies showed up close to the evening when Caitlin arrived! MMM! Baileys Icing...

It was a PACKED house, and busy like a beehive. 

It's possible everyone had the same idea - come early and get a spot! Very rarely do we have so many people at sew in before lunch time.

Down to the wire in this round of Left Centre Right - beware the winning fist of Linda! 

The stakes were high and the excitement was palpable. Yes, we get that excited about 2.75 square foot pieces of fabric.

The reason I didn't take as many pictures as normal... I actually sewed! Well, cut, mostly.

And this Custom Cutie that Jeanette was working on - a baby quilt with a really sweet story.

Amanda had a lovely Quilt as you Go piece underway - what a bright, summery pile!

The final few. Winding down a wonderful day.

Another ENORMOUS thank you to everyone involved in supporting this event. The families who gave up their quilters and took care of everything at home and beyond, the bringers of snacks, the lenders of supplies, providers of prizes and vaccumers(?) of threads! It was an immense success and perhaps, will become an annual event.

Stay tuned to our social media channels for coverage of our July meeting (coming up on Thursday!) and sew-in later in the month. Hope you enjoyed the Midnight madness re-cap!